Ecolab unit freed from Gulf Oil spill lawsuit

Minnesota-based Ecolab Inc.'s Nalco Holding Co. unit, which provided a chemical dispersant after the 2010 BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill, has been dismissed from lawsuits over the incident, Bloomberg reports.

Plaintiffs in a lawsuit over the Deepwater Horizon oil rig spill said the dispersant didn't work well and was more toxic than the oil. But a U.S. District judge has ruled that the federal government was ultimately responsible for use of the chemical.

Ecolab bought Nalco for $8 billion last year, the Business Journal notes.

Here's Nalco's take on its use of the dispersant.